re: A Question For Medical Experts Here; What Do You Think Caused the Spike in Autism?

Not a medical expert here.

If your child is diagnosed with Autism/Asperger's, they are given accommodations, extra time when taking tests, etc...

The parents I know (actually they are my adult nieces), receive Government assistance money because their children have been diagnosed with Autism.

One niece of mine actually took her children to several doctors insisting her children were Autistic. She finally convinced a doctor to diagnose them as Autistic.

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A lot of it is young people seeking out the label because it is viewed as a positive and a way to have more individuality.

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More so the moms.

Plastics in the food supply.

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they have expanded the umbrella that covers autism so a lot more classify.

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This is the real answer.

I’d argue it is grossly over diagnosed these days.

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Not an expert, but I had always assumed it was because it was underreported.

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This is not true. If it were because of testing then there would be way more adults with autism nowadays. But we don’t have that…I’ve never met a 70+ year old with autism. It’s all kids that are getting it.

Scientific studies debunk this too

So, despite what may be stated online, autism is normally diagnosed by one’s pcp through screening early in childhood or later on in adolescence. It’s called ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ because it’s such a wildly variable condition with no predictable syndrome. We all know the weird guy/gal who ‘has autism’ but rarely see the serious case that cannot function in society in the slightest.

In (honest) medicine terms, it means we do not understand the mechanism or cause well at all.

Thats not even the bad part. The bad part is, even when screened and diagnosed by their doctor, most patients in a large swath of the country have little to no resources past that point to manage or treat it other than their primary. The best outcomes need early diagnosis, social support, therapy, and medical management - with moderate to severe cases showing modest results at best.

Yea, I fully support the theory it’s always been present and maybe they were just lost in the weeds or were left to die in the wilderness - but that doesn’t speak to the incidence increasing or not.

I personally think it’s increasing in incidence but part of that being due to our use of screening questionnaires which are infantile understanding and practice yet the only tool we have to try and be objective.

All that to say, I think it’s 20% genetic and 60% something we’re exposing pregnant mothers/infants to and 20% the pathetic resources we have to manage it.

Not an expert but pay attention to what experts say:

1. Tylenol taken by pregnant women
2. Folate deficiency in children
3. Likely taking almost all the vaccines at once rather than spread out

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I’ve never met a 70+ year old with autism

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yes you have

We have videos of old people with autism



Now did anyone care to call it that back then, no. So that means he didn’t have it I guess

I've heard that the rise in autism coincides with a change in vaccination schedule of newborns. They used to wait a couple of weeks to vaccinate and at some point they started doing it right after birth.
(I have not researched this so this may have been debunked)